


That Could Never Happen

by jugheadsucks



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-23 05:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jugheadsucks/pseuds/jugheadsucks
Summary: Their relationship blossomed suddenly from nowhere. He was just Archie and Betty’s friend, the weird and funny guy that was just sort of… there. It wasn’t until one day, just as winter was coming to an end, that she really saw him.





	That Could Never Happen

**Author's Note:**

> SO this takes place when they're all seniors so they're all 18 at the time of this and... most of what happens in the show didn't happen, including bughead... basically, the canon of this is almost like the show but without all the painful stuff and it takes place a couple years after the current show canon!
> 
> i hope you like it! idk how i ended up shipping these two but here we are...

_Betty and Veronica are stood by Betty’s locker, Veronica absentmindedly discussing the boys prowling the corridor._

_“He is… not bad,” she comments as a boy in a letterman jacket walks past, shooting a look and a smile her way. Betty laughs quietly. She isn’t attracted to guys and Veronica knows that, but she doesn’t mind talking about them with her._

_“I guess.” She puts the last of her books back in her locker and carefully shuts the metal door, turning around to see who Veronica is looking at now._

_That’s when she spots him._

_“Hey, what about him?” she asks, pointing to the end of the corridor and adding a layer of humour to her voice in apprehension of Veronica’s response._

_“Him? Oh Betty… even with the new Veronica, that could never happen.”_

_They both watch as the boy pushes himself off the wall and walks around the corner towards his next class, oblivious to their gaze._

***

Veronica pulls back, breathing hard, and smiles down at the boy below her. One of her hands is pressed against his chest, rising and falling along with his ragged breaths, the other is on the nape of his neck.

He smiles up at her, eyelids fluttering.

Admittedly, sneaking kisses in an abandoned office in between classes is not ideal. 

Despite that, in this moment, with his hands running along the small of her back and his eyes wide with pupils blown, lips pink and swollen, it’s perfect. It’s all she’s ever wanted and all she didn’t know she needed.

 

Their relationship blossomed suddenly from nowhere. He was just Archie and Betty’s friend, the weird and funny guy that was just sort of… there. It wasn’t until one day, just as winter was coming to an end, that she really saw him. 

Archie and Betty were busy, Kevin was out of town and as she wanders into the common room, it’s him her eyes are drawn to. He’s sat at a table, laptop in front of him, typing away. He’s unaware of anything going on around him and as she stares at him she realises he looks… sad. And tired and vulnerable and a million other things she had never thought he could be.

So she walks over, sits opposite him, and asks him what he’s writing.

As soon as he senses her, his demeanour changes, forcing his usual indifferent and uncaring attitude to come forth.

It’s then that she knows that he’s someone who she just has to figure out.

 

She doesn’t make it a project of hers, as such; that makes it sound like it was just some science experiment to her. It wasn’t, he wasn’t, he isn’t. The way he looked that day in the common room struck a chord with Veronica, resonated with her. She saw someone who was broken and hurting and who hid that behind a layer of themselves that was easy to control.

She saw herself.

So it started off small, a bit of conversation here and there, the occasional text. Mostly they both just carried on with their lives, both accepting the other as a part of their world now. They would hang around with the rest of their mutual friends like always, they would exchange comments and jokes with them like always, but slowly a connection built between them. A quiet and mostly unspoken link that they share in unnoticed looks and light, unintended touches. 

All of their friends are blind to this, because of course, _that_ could _never_ happen. 

But the deeper she falls into the web of him, the more she wants to keep falling. She wants to uncover every layer of who he is, what his dreams are, what he thinks of this or that, even what his favourite fucking colour is. 

She doesn’t know it for sure at the time, but he is falling just as deeply into her web as she is into his.

 

She thinks that maybe the weirdest part is what happens next.

As she becomes more and more drawn towards his mind, she starts to get drawn more and more towards his body.

She finds herself fixating on the slightest touch, the lightest brushing of his hand against hers enough to drive her insane. She doesn’t notice him react when she touches him, but he’s always been fairly good at concealing things.

Their friends, of course, carry on oblivious to the two of them. Unaware of their late night texting and clandestine dates at Pop’s, their gravitating to towards each other like the Earth toward the sun. And of course, that one time when he tries to climb up the side of her apartment building to get to her window before giving up and calling her to come down; she’s still laughing when she gets to the lobby.

They never feel judgement towards each other. Despite coming from different worlds and occupying different spaces in their joint one, they never look at the other like they are any less than them. It’s just the way it is, it always has been, since that first day in the common room.

All of a sudden, they just are.

And now, Veronica wouldn’t change that for the world.

 

With his lips back on hers and his hands roaming her waist, she moves her hips and grinds down onto him a little. He groans beneath her and pulls back from the kiss, burying his head in her neck.

“Ronnie,” he starts breathlessly, “I can’t walk into English with a boner.” She lets out a breath that almost sounds like a laugh and moves back to look into his eyes.

“Then don’t.” He raises an eyebrow at her and she raises hers right back. Almost identical, almost in sync, like it’s made to be that way.

Like they’re made to be right where they are.

“I don’t know what you’re insinuating, Miss Lodge, but I will not stand for it,” he jokes, moving one hand up to brush her hair back. The action makes her heart flutter.

“I’m not insinuating anything, Mr. Jones,” she replies, smirking. 

Suddenly, Veronica’s phone ringing cuts through the air around them and causes them both to jump.

“Shit, it’s Betty, hang on… hey Betty! Yeah I’m not far, I’ll be there in a sec! Okay, bye.” She hangs up the phone and checks the time before looking back at the boy in front of her, eyes wide.

“Juggie, you’ve got five minutes to get from here to your English class.” He groans and she gets up from his lap, gathering her stuff and making sure they haven’t left a shred of evidence of their presence in the room.

When she’s done, she looks back over and Jughead is still sat in the chair, his eyes closed.

“Juggie? Are you not going to move?” she asks. He looks over at her, suppressing a smile.

“Yeah, just… give me a second.” She bites her lip to suppress a laugh but it’s no use and within seconds, the sound of both of their laughter is rippling through the room like a symphony across a music hall.

***

The next day at lunch, the whole gang is sat on the bleachers. Betty, Archie and Kevin are chatting away, not noticing the silence from Jughead and Veronica as they stare at each other, smiling.

Moments like this happen quite a lot between the two of them, secret little interactions that no one else notices. Tiny exchanges which seem to mean nothing, but which to the two of them, mean the world.

It’s not like they want to keep their relationship a secret from their friends necessarily, it’s just that it was easier in the start and now they kind of like it. Only they know, only they see, only they understand, no one else.

“What do you think, V?” Betty asks, turning to face her. Veronica blinks and looks over at Betty, slightly dazed. 

She isn’t quite sure whether she’s dazed by Betty’s sudden question or Jughead’s stare.

“Oh um, sorry, I zoned out, what are we talking about?” Betty shoots her a quizzical and mildly concerned look, but she just carries on the conversation regardless. Veronica sighs with relief, as subtly as possible.

A minute later, when she looks back over at Jughead, he’s still looking at her, smirking. She glares slightly at him but she can’t fully suppress the smile that works its way onto her face.

 

Just before fourth period, Veronica is getting some books from her locker when Betty walks up to her, ponytail swinging in her wake.

“Hey,” she says quietly. Veronica looks over at her, stopping what she’s doing and turning fully in her direction when she sees the slight furrow in Betty’s brow.

That can only mean “something’s wrong”.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asks.

“Well, actually, that’s what I was going to ask you,” Betty replies, “you just seem a little… distant lately, is everything okay?” Veronica feels a rush of affection for her friend then, Betty’s eyes so open and caring and concerned. She suddenly feels guilty for not sharing everything with her, for not telling her about her feelings for Jughead, or their relationship. She tells herself that she shouldn’t feel bad, she has a right to keep their relationship to herself, but looking into Betty’s eyes all she wants to do is tell her _everything_.

She thinks of how Jughead would feel if she didn’t ask him first. She breathes in, out, smiles at Betty and says:

“There is… something I want to tell you, but I need to check something first.” 

Betty nods, concern still filling her eyes.

“Shall we go somewhere quieter?” she asks. Veronica nods.

“It’s not bad news by the way, there’s no need to worry,” she says. She’s trying to comfort her friend, but all it does is make her even more confused, head tilting to match her furrowed brow as she follows Veronica’s footsteps down the hall.

 

When they’re stood in the empty classroom, Veronica pulls out her phone and dials Jughead’s number.

“Hey… yeah I’m okay, listen, can I tell Betty? … Don’t be an ass, you know what I mean… yeah, okay, thank you, I’ll talk to you later.” She looks over at her friend who is looking back at her with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.

“Okay, it’s a long story but, basically me and Jughead have been dating for… about a month now.” 

Veronica doesn’t know why, but she’s nervous saying those words out loud, even to her best friend. The nervousness doesn’t last long though, as Betty eyes widen almost as much as her grin. She leans forward and grabs Veronica hands in hers.

“Oh my GOD.”

***

The days that follow are… rather bizarre for all of them. Betty speaks to Jughead after school the day that Veronica tells her. Well, to be honest, she kind of ambushes him, pulling him into a hug and gushing about how happy she is for him.

Jughead just smiles slightly and hugs her back.

“Thanks Betts. You got your eye on any girls?” Betty sighs and steps into line to walk with him out of the school gates.

“Yeah, there’s so many to choose from in the lesbian population of Riverdale High.” He laughs and turns to stop and look at her.

“Hey,” he starts, hand on her shoulder, “if I can end up with someone as unlikely as Veronica, you can find someone too.” 

She smiles up at him, feeling the sincerity in his words. 

She realises then that he probably thought he would never end up with anybody.

 

The one thing that changes other than the secret club of two now being three, however, is Betty being just slightly less than subtle at concealing her excitement for her friends. She suddenly picks up on the slight touches and long looks that they share, realising that they mean more than anyone would have guessed. Obviously she won’t be completely conspicuous, or tell anyone without her friends permission, but she’s just so happy that they’re happy, she can hardly conceal it.

That’s when other people start to notice, but not something going on between Veronica and Jughead, something going on with Betty. Archie asks her several times what it is, but she repeatedly tells him that it is not her secret to tell.

All that manages to do is make him even more confused. If it isn’t her secret, who’s is it? 

Even Valerie realises something is going on when she has lunch with them all one day, looking to Archie as if to ask whats up, but Archie just shrugs in reply. 

Nothing changes dramatically, but every one of them can sense that something is different in the group, that something has shifted. That change seems to come from Betty, so with all eyes on her, Jughead and Veronica’s relationship becomes even more invisible than before.

 

Just one more in the long line of strange occurrences is Veronica going to Betty for advice. She doesn’t want to overwhelm her friend, but finally having someone to talk to about Jughead other than, well, Jughead himself is so exciting to her. And Betty’s enthusiastic and seemingly endless support means more to Veronica than she realised it would. 

No matter who you date, or who you fall in love with, no one can ever replace a best friend.

“Betty, can I ask you something? And if you don’t want to talk about it, just say and we’ll drop it.”

They are sat on Betty’s bed, Friday night, pyjamas on, music playing softly in the background. Betty cocks her head at her.

“Ronnie, you can talk to me about anything! Shoot!”

“Okay… so this is maybe a little TMI but… me and Jug haven’t had sex yet. And it’s not like I care that much, I just want to be with him I don’t care about sex really, but I just… want to know where he stands on it?”

Betty smiles at her, her eyes soft. 

“Ronnie, just talk to him. I know Juggie pretty well, I grew up with him, but you and him are together, and if you think there might be an issue there, or if you just want to have that conversation, then just talk to him! It won’t be as scary as you think it will.” Ronnie leans over and hugs her. 

Friends like Betty Cooper don’t come along to often, and Veronica reminds herself just how lucky she is to have her by her side.

“Thank you, Betts.” Betty nods against her shoulder before she pulls back.

“And by the way, what you said about just wanting to be with him? So romantic!” Veronica laughs and hits her lightly, neither of them able to conceal their smiles.

 

About a week after Veronica told Betty, Jughead realises that he has to tell Archie. He’s been there with him through so much and he doesn’t know if he can keep this from him for much longer. He’s his best friend, and not being honest with him about things in the past hasn’t exactly gone well.

After speaking to Veronica about it and getting her approval to tell him, he walks into Archie’s room with his stomach flipping in turmoil. He doesn’t know why he’s nervous, he guesses it’s because this whole relationship thing is so new to him.

His face, of course, betrays none of these worries and fears to Archie.

“Hey, dude, I’ve got something I’ve got to tell you,” he says simply, sitting down on the end of Archie’s bed. Archie looks at him with that sincere look of caring and curiosity that he wears so well.

Copyright Archie Andrews 2017, the patented i-need-to-be-there-for-my-friend look.

He means it, though. Archie, unlike Jughead, has never been good at concealing his emotions.

“Yeah man, anything, what is it?” 

“Well, it’s nothing bad, quite the opposite actually. The short version is, me and Veronica have been dating for just over a month.” Archie’s expression grows into one of genuine shock, but also quite obvious joy.

“Bro, are you serious? That’s awesome, oh my god, why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Well, we didn’t tell anyone for a while, but Veronica told Betty last week and I figured I had to tell you, so.” Archie is smiling so wide Jughead thinks his cheeks might burst. He reaches his leg out and kicks him lightly in the shin. 

His friend looks ridiculous happy for him and it’s making him happy too.

“Dude, seriously, that’s awesome, I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, man.” Jughead now, too, is smiling like an idiot, the joy and support of his best friend somewhat of a healing sensation. He knows he can tell Archie anything, and that he will always be there for him. He remembers last summer when Archie had told him, fidgety and nervous, that he’s bisexual. Jughead had just shrugged and smiled at him, offering support and acceptance, and he knows that meant the world to Archie.

This isn’t exactly on the same level, but that bond between them shines through in this moment just as much.

“Hey, have you… you know?” Archie asks, raising his eyebrows. Jughead snorts.

“Is that all you ever think about, Arch? No, we haven’t yet.” Archie smirks at him.

“Yet?” he asks. Jughead rolls his eyes.

“When was the last time you got laid?” he asks, causing Archie to laugh.

“Last Friday, dude.” Jughead shakes his head.

“You’re unbelievable. Who was it?” 

“A gentlemen never tells,” Archie says, trying to keep a straight face. Jughead raises an eyebrow.

“It was Cheryl, wasn’t it?” he asks. Archie kicks him.

“Damn you. Yeah it was Cheryl. Also, just so you know, I came on to Ronnie like a month ago, but obviously she turned me down, but if I’d known you were dating at the time, I wouldn’t have done it.” Jughead smiles at him.

“I know. She told me. You said some line about yin and yang or something? Nice one, dude.” Archie buries his face in his hands as the sound of Jughead’s laughter fills the room.

“God I can’t believe she told you that.”

“I can’t believe you still try and use lines like that on people? It’s 2017, dude.”

***

One of Veronica’s favourite things about their relationship is their ability to both talk for hours, and sit for hours together in silence.

They’ll talk on the phone for an age about all sorts of things, from literature to philosophy to music to what they had for breakfast. She doesn’t like to admit it, but even just the sound of his voice is enough to calm her down, to comfort her. Sometimes it even relaxes her enough that she drifts off to sleep with him talking on the other end of the phone.

The stuff he says when he realises she’s asleep he would never say any other time, but he still means every word.

They’ll sit for hours in his truck, parked by the river or in the woods, just sat there together, both reading, or Veronica reading and Jughead on his laptop, typing away.

She’s the only one who’s read parts of the book he started working on in sophmore year. He didn’t trust anyone else enough, not even Archie. When she read what he gave her, her heart nearly burst in her chest with pride. She told him that, told him how good it was and watched that small but oh so genuine smile creep onto his face.

That smile was another of her favourite things about their relationship. 

It was soft and seemingly insignificant, but so full of feeling. She’d never seen it before they got together, and still very rarely does he ever let it creep onto his face. Little did she know that around her, it’s a lot more frequent than it ever has been before.

The quiet intimacy and often unspoken nature of what their relationship became was a mystery and a blessing to both of them. They just let it happen, let it all creep up on them slowly until step by step, tiny change by tiny change, they just were. Their hearts crawled out from their chests, nestled their way into the others heart and laid their nests there.

And then was nothing either of them could do about it. 

In all honestly, there’s nothing they wanted to do.

***

Jughead is sitting on the top row of the bleachers, hands skating over his laptop keys, eyes firmly locked on the screen in front of him. Well, as firmly as they can be considering his girlfriend is dancing on the floor of the gymnasium right beneath him.

This is the third time he’s snuck in to watch her practice and the fact that no one, especially Cheryl Blossom, has noticed yet is kind of a miracle. 

Veronica looks up at him occasionally, giving him that stage perfect half smile, half smirk of hers. He always offers exactly the same smile back, taking a sip of his coffee and trying to play it cool. 

Internally, he is very far from cool.

His girlfriend is a cheerleader, for starters. That is weird, mostly, and even though Jughead doesn’t want to admit it because he feels like some creepy, porn obsessed weirdo… it is kind of hot. 

Those shorts really are… short.

She wants him to watch her practice which… he isn’t entirely sure what that means but he knows it’s a good sign. 

She keeps looking up at him with that look on her face, like she knows that he’s watching but is trying not to look like he’s watching, like she knows he’s freaking out internally, like she knows she’s driving him insane.

And then just as she drops his gaze and continues dancing, his eyes lock directly onto Cheryl’s.

“Stop! Cut the music! We have… a visitor…” All of the River Vixens turn and follow Cheryl’s gaze, a few of them gasping when they see Jughead sitting at the top of the bleachers.

“What are you doing here, Jughead?” she asks, pronouncing his name like it might give her some kind of infectious disease if she says it too many times.

“I’m just writing, this is my favourite spot. It’s just a coincidence that you guys are here as well.” Cheryl looks unimpressed with his answer, and opens her mouth to speak again when Veronica interjects.

“Just leave him alone, Cheryl, he’s not doing any harm. He’s typing, he’s not even watching us.” She says it as if she doesn’t really care, as if she isn’t coming to the defence of her boyfriend. But Jughead knows that she does, and that she is. 

He represses a smile.  
“Ugh, fine, whatever,” Cheryl replies, waving a hand dismissively, “you can stay, but if I see you in here again while we’re practicing, I’m calling the cops.”

Veronica catches his eyes and mouths ‘sorry’, but Jughead just shakes his head in reply.

Getting to see her defend him like that was worth hours of taking shit from Cheryl. He’s never felt like this before, and as he watches her dance for the rest of practice, mesmerised, without so much as typing a single letter, he realises that he’s falling for Veronica Lodge.

***

After practice, Jughead waits around the corner from the gym for Veronica. He’s leaning back against the wall, eyes closed, when he feels someone grab his arm and squeal.

Definitely not Veronica, almost certainly Betty.

He opens his eyes to see the golden haired girl stood in front of him, beaming.

“Veronica defending you like that was so… I don’t even know!” Jughead smiles at her, seeing the excitement for her friends practically radiating from her entire body. 

“It was just… Ronnie being Ronnie.” Betty tilts her head, frowning slightly.

“We both know it was more than that. I love you two together, why can’t you just… tell everyone? Not keep it a secret?” Jughead opens his mouth to respond when he realises he doesn’t really know what to say. Betty and Archie know, they’re the two most important people. There’s only one or two more to tell before they’ve told everyone that matters, and then why should they hide it any more?

“What are you guys talking about?” Veronica asks, walking around the corner. Betty glances at Jughead before taking a step back from him.

“Nothing. Just Blue and Gold stuff. I’ve gotta go, my mum’s waiting.” She waves at them both before heading towards the car park. 

“Hey, you okay?” Veronica asks. He nods.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks for defending me in there,” he says, smirking slightly and pushing himself off the wall. She offers him a half shrug, taking his hand in hers as they begin to walk, before realising they’re still at school and releasing it.

“Least I could do. Sorry that Cheryl saw you.” 

“It’s cool, it was bound to happen eventually.” Veronica nods.

Jughead swallows and takes a deep breath.

Betty is right, why are they keeping their relationship a secret now? It’s been a month and a half and things are going good between them. He tries to stop himself from worrying that maybe Veronica is ashamed of him, but the thoughts creep into his mind anyway. A lot of people would probably think the same thing, the thing that he doesn’t want her to know that he thinks too. 

She is way too good for him.

“Former New York Socialite Dating Former Homeless Writer”. What a headline that would be.

“Hey, Ronnie,” he starts quietly, “I’ve been thinking, and Betty actually just said something to me about it and I… want us to stop keeping our relationship a secret. We’ve told Betty and Archie, the only person we really have left to tell is Kevin, and you can tell the Pussycats if you want to, but… I don’t want to keep it a secret any more. Obviously I will, if you still want to but-“

“Why would I want to? You’re right, Jug, there is no point keeping it a secret any more,” she interrupts, reaching out and taking his hand in hers. She stops and turns to face him, smiling up at him and he can feel his heart jump in his chest.

“I just thought that maybe… well, we don’t exactly come from similar backgrounds I thought that maybe you…” he trails off, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Veronica frowns at him.

“That I’d be ashamed of you? Jughead Jones, there is no universe in which I would ever be ashamed to date you. Not one. And certainly not this one.” She says it with such conviction that he can’t help but smile at her, nodding. 

“That’s… good to know.” She smiles up at him.

“We’ll tell Kevin tomorrow, I’ll talk to Josie and Val and Mel and then… we can just be us.” 

His heart feels like it’s going to explode and he can’t think of anything to say so he just leans forward and locks his lips with hers, his hand coming up to run through her hair. She smiles against his lips before kissing him back, one hand gripping onto the collar of his jacket. 

When he pulls back, her eyes flutter open and glance up to lock with his. 

He didn’t think he would ever experience anything so perfect in his life, and he’s half sure that what’s happening right now isn’t even real. 

Being with Veronica Lodge is like dancing with a fairy tale, and he doesn’t ever want it to end.

“Also, I want to tell my mum. And I want you to meet her, are you free?” she asks. He blinks.

“Now?” She laughs at his shocked expression.

“Yes, now! Why not?”

“Well, I don’t exactly look the part, and I’m not exactly prepared for dinner with your mum,” he says nervously. 

“Hey, you look great. And don’t worry, she doesn’t bite. I actually think she’ll like you,” she says, reassuringly. He nods.

“Okay, God, dinner with your mum. I’m down.” She laughs and begins to walk again, her hand still firmly locked with his.

 

When they arrive at the Pembroke, Jughead is nervous but he trusts Veronica, and by extension her mum. He feels out of place in the fancy building and Veronica must sense it because the second they step into the elevator, she squeezes his hand.

“It’ll be fine, you idiot, calm down.” He laughs lightly.

“I know. Still nervous though.” She brings his hand up to her mouth and kisses the back of it. All he can do is smile at her and follow her lead when the elevator pings and the doors swish open.

She leads him down the corridor and into her apartment, the door slamming shut behind them.

“Mum! You in?” Veronica calls out. 

“Yeah, I’m the kitchen!” comes her mum’s slightly muffled reply. 

“Can you come out here a sec?” Veronica asks. She can hear her mum’s footsteps and she looks up at Jughead, raising her eyebrows in question, squeezing their still joint hands.

He nods in reply, squeezing back.

“Mum, this is Jughead. My boyfriend. Can he stay for dinner?” 

Hermione has only just entered the room and barely had time to take anything in when Veronica speaks. She stops, blinks, and opens her mouth.

“Of course he can! A little notice would have been nice though.” 

“Sorry, Mrs. Lodge, we… only just made the plans ourselves.” Hermione nods, smiling at Jughead.

“That’s okay, the more the merrier. And please, call me Hermione.”

***

When Jughead gets home that night, he can’t shake the smile from his face.

Dinner with Ronnie and her mum had been really nice. Hermione was kind and open and funny and Jughead could totally see where Veronica gets it from.

The fact that more and more people were coming to know about him and Veronica made him happy. Nervous, but happy. A weird combination, but a welcome one, and one that he isn’t all too familiar with.

He has something with Veronica that’s worth fighting for, and that scares him, a lot. Despite that, it also makes him happy, and grateful and a million other positive things.

He kicks off his shoes and walks into the kitchen.

“Hey dad, sorry I bailed on dinner,” he says, walking over to the fridge and taking out a can of Dr. Pepper.

“Hey, Jug. It’s cool, didn’t miss much. Jellybean said you’re not allowed any of the ice cream we had for desert though.” Jughead laughs.

“I promise I won’t have any.” His dad smiles over at him. Jughead cracks open the can and takes a few big gulps.

“Hey, dad? The reason I didn’t make it to dinner tonight is because I was having dinner at… my girlfriend, Veronica’s house.” FP raises his eyebrows.

“Your girlfriend, huh?” Jughead nods.

“How long has that been a thing?”

“A month and a half.” His dad laughs.

“Wow. Veronica as in Lodge, right? Will we ever get to meet her?” 

“Of course you will, dad. Soon, probably.” FP nods.

“You really like her?” Jughead looks down at the floor, but he nods.

“Yeah dad, I really do.”

***

One of Jughead’s favourite thing’s about their relationship is the honesty.

Initially, of course, he was suspicious of her, as he always is with new people. Then she was just a friend of Archie and Betty’s, accepted as part of his world, but not much more than that.

Slowly, however, he found himself opening up to her. Really opening up, about everything he could think of. He was surprised how easy it was, and even more surprised when she listened patiently, offering advice or comfort or whatever else he could possibly need.

As he opened up, she mirrored him, beginning to pour her thoughts out into the sea of their relationship as well until they became caught in a whirlpool, blending into one.

Pretty soon, it came to be that the people they relied on the most were each other. The first person Jughead turned to for advice, or to tell good news, or to moan to, or to ask something, was Veronica. 

Now that he had her there, beside him through anything, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Another of his favourite things is her laugh. Not her giggle, but her real, full on, weird sounding, full body laugh.

She didn’t do it a lot, especially not in public. When he said something that managed to pull that laugh out of her it made him feel like he’d won the lottery, like he’d struck gold in the most unlikely of places.

His humour was a little… odd, and definitely not for everyone, but surprisingly, hers was rather similar to his. The stupid jokes he told and the dark stuff he made light of, along with a generous sprinkling of puns, caused that laugh to erupt from her just enough to make him feel like maybe he was doing okay.

Like maybe life wasn’t so dark after all.

***

The next day, after telling Kevin and the Pussycats, Veronica and Jughead are stood at his locker. She’s leaning against the door next to his as he sorts his books out, smiling up at him before beginning to laugh at something he says.

The whole world around them seems hazy and far away, nothing but the two of them feeling real. The joy and relief they both feel about finally being open about their relationship is still light in their chests, causing their hearts to feel as if they are floating, bound by string to the others.

“It finally makes sense why you were lurking in the bleachers during practice.” Cheryl was suddenly stood next to them, alone for once.

Suddenly, the world around them is crystal fucking clear.

“Glad you figured it out,” Veronica replies, turning to face her. Cheryl looks her up and down before glancing over at Jughead and doing the same. 

“Honestly… even though we aren’t friends, you’re not that bad, Veronica. Certainly better than… him.” Jughead doesn’t pay any attention to Cheryl’s words, they carry no weight coming from her. He glances over at Veronica and takes in her narrowed eyes, placing a hand on her arm as a way of telling her to exercise caution.

It doesn’t work.

“Well, it just so happens that you know nothing about Jughead. Or me for that matter, and you certainly know nothing about our relationship. If I were to say there is one thing you do know, it would be jealousy, because hey, at least I can get a boyfriend.” 

Cheryl takes a deep breath.

“I’d rather be single than dating him.” Veronica laughs.

“Bye, Cheryl.” She doesn’t give the other girl a chance to respond before turning her back to her and looking towards Jughead. She raises her eyebrows to ask if he’s okay, and he just smiles at her, nodding. He leans down and kisses her gently, his hand cupping her face. She kisses back, one of her hands reaching up and into his hair, playing with the edge of his beanie, the other wrapping around his waist and pulling him close.

At some point, Cheryl huffed and walked away, and eventually, somehow, they end up with Veronica pressed up against the locker and Jughead’s beanie half hanging off his head.

They don’t pull apart until they hear whooping coming from a little way down the corridor, pulling back to see Betty, Kevin, Archie and Valerie cheering and laughing. 

Jughead reaches up to pull his beanie back into place as him and Veronica start laughing too, a slight blush working on to both their cheeks.

It started unexpectedly but now, with their friends laughing and Veronica’s hand still wrapped around Jughead’s waist, he wonders how he ever could have expected anything else.


End file.
